Belt and Road Film Festival Alliance | A Blueprint for Cultural Exchange and Cooperation with Film as a Medium

On the afternoon of June 16, the Belt and Road Film Festival Alliance held a press conference. Representatives from film industries, various sectors, and members of the Belt and Road Film Festival Alliance from different countries gathered to review the fruitful achievements of the Alliance and give their insights into the future of film industry development.

Since its inception in 2018, the Belt and Road Film Festival Alliance has been continuously growing. Starting with 31 film institutions from 29 countries, it has expanded to 55 institutions from 48 countries today. Each new member injects vitality and diversity into the development of cinema. The Alliance, using film as a medium, collaboratively outlines a bright blueprint for cross-cultural exchange and cooperation.

Huang Qunfei, Member of the Party Committee and Vice General Manager of Huaxia Film Distribution Co., Ltd., emphasized the influential role of film as one of the most impactful cultural products in Belt and Road cultural exchanges. The establishment of the Belt and Road Film Festival Alliance at the Shanghai International Film Festival has deepened friendly exchanges among filmmakers from various countries, fostering a new situation of cultural exchange, integration, and mutual understanding among peoples.

“In the future, we will fully leverage the advantages of the Chinese film market. We will deepen mutual learning between films and visits by filmmakers, promote benign cooperation across film production, distribution, and screening, enhance international talent development, and continue to work on innovation and application of film technology. This effort aims to contribute jointly to the high-quality development of the Belt and Road film industry,” Huang Qunfei stated.

Guillermo Olivares, Program Planner of the Valdivia International Film Festival in Chile, highlighted the Alliance as a platform for exchange and cooperation. Here, filmmakers can share new Chilean films with audiences and professionals worldwide. Simultaneously, they can also gain deeper insights into film industries and festivals worldwide.

“This network truly holds tremendous potential to generate and disseminate creative energy in cinemas worldwide, promoting collaboration and creating hotspots for cultural exchange-centered, more diverse film creation, production, and distribution,” Guillermo Olivares remarked.

Over the past six years, the Shanghai International Resort and the Belt and Road Film Week have grown together, using film as a medium to embark on a win-win journey in the realm of film art. Sun Yu, Member of the Party Committee and Deputy Director of the Administrative Committee of the Shanghai International Resort, expressed, “Due to the Belt and Road Film Week’s permanent development and incentivization here in the resort, more than 150 cultural and creative industries covering film and television post-production, filming, distribution, and other sectors have gathered, with an increasingly complete range.” Sun Yu hopes that filmmakers from various countries will collectively shape the Belt and Road Film Festival Alliance into a cultural feast with an international perspective, Shanghai style, and Pudong characteristics.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Hungary. During the 20th Miscolc International Film Festival in September this year, the Shanghai International Film Festival will collaborate with this festival to organize a “Focus on China” screening unit, to promote multi-domain, multi-level cultural exchanges and cooperation between China and Hungary.

At the press conference, Chen Guo, Director of Shanghai International Film & TV Festivals, Co., Ltd., exchanged gifts with Peter Madaras, Chief Curator of the Miscolc International Film Festival in Hungary. Chen Guo presented Peter with a custom-made seal inspired by the Golden Goblet Award trophy. The seal inscription “In the Frame” is derived from the seal engraved by the Shanghai School art master Wu Changshuo, symbolizing filmmakers jointly using light and shadow to depict stories, inviting audiences into the frame with a beam of light in the darkness, traversing diverse time and space, to experience the myriad flavors of life.

Peter Madaras reciprocated with promotional materials about the Miscolc International Film Festival in Hungary and a full-color book introducing Hungary and its capital Budapest, hoping that more filmmakers and audience friends can deepen their understanding of Hungary, the Miscolc International Film Festival, and the scenic beauty and culture of more countries along the Belt and Road route.